1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to methods for distributing prescription drugs. It relates more specifically to secure methods and systems for issuing and filling prescriptions.
2. Background Art
With the advent of mail order and online (“cyber-”) pharmacies accessible via the Internet, most all medically prescribed prescription, as well as non-prescription drugs and general health & beauty aids can be shipped to the customer within 2-5 days by regular mail or overnight by an express courier service for a price. While such modes of delivery may be satisfactory in many situations, there are situations in which the applicable time delay is inconvenient for a customer.
There is a group of prescription drugs known in the industry as “lifestyle” drugs which are not necessary for the health of the patient, but may improve the quality of life for the patient. Some examples of lifestyle drugs include, but are not limited to, drugs for weight loss, hair loss, erectile dysfunction, pain relief from arthritis, allergies, herpies, birth control, skin care, smoking, and the like. The lifestyle drugs can often be prescribed by a doctor without an actual physical examination of the patient. As such, these drugs have found significant popularity for ordering through the Internet. Numerous cyber-pharmacies have been established wherein a customer researches and selects a desired drug, requests a prescription, answers questions posed by an online doctor, and is granted a prescription for the requested drug. The prescription drug is then shipped to the address provided by the customer requesting the drug.
Although prescription lifestyle drugs are not necessary for the health of the patient, they are, nonetheless, “prescription” drugs and regulation of the drugs is still a concern. For example, the well known erectile dysfunction drug Viagra® is a popular street drug and has side effects which can pose significant health and public safety risks if taken by someone with particular health problems or someone taking other common conflicting drugs. Abuse of the cyber-pharmacy system can arise from dishonest consumers obtaining duplicate prescriptions to various pharmacies, perhaps under a plurality of false identities, or by answering the questions posed to them dishonestly, acquiring the drugs and selling them on the street.
Due to the ease by which a customer can receive prescriptions for prescription drugs, many cyber-pharmacies have come under attack for the apparent lack of controls associated with prescriptions and prescription drugs being distributed through cyber-pharmacies. Similar complaints, however, could be made of walk-in clinics where a customer pays cash and can walk into a number of clinics to obtain a variety of prescriptions for the same drug. Despite the numerous safety protocols instituted by cyber-pharmacies to overcome the concerns, the verbal, written and legal attacks continue. Concern has also been expressed by cyber-pharmacy customers that the drugs they are ordering are, perhaps, not the highest of quality, that the customer's medical information is not going to be kept private, and that the customer's credit card information is at risk.
Conventionally, a prescription from a doctor includes the name of the clinic from which the prescription was issued, a name of the patient for whom the drug was prescribed, a signature of the doctor, a date for the prescription, a name and dosage of the drug prescribed, and perhaps an indication for the number of refills prescribed. Anyone carrying the prescription to the pharmacy and paying for the drugs can collect the prescription drug. Conventionally, the pharmacist's interaction with the customer, despite the significant education required to become a pharmacist, involves reading the dosage on the bottle to the customer and collecting the customer's money.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system for distributing prescription drugs which allows for the convenience of cyber-pharmacies, yet provides security so that only the intended recipient receives the drugs and is limited as to how much of the drug the recipient is permitted to obtain.